On 15 Aug 06, at 14:40, rdjenkins wrote: > I've had them for years as well and have never had any blooms in 7b. I > took a potful indoors for the winter last year and may do so again > this year, hoping that growing them through the winter in the warm > indoors will help form buds or at least extend their season to produce > a larger bulb. I guess the trick though, is getting them to send > those buds on out. Winter them in a frost-free environment, not a *warm* one. With as much light as you can manage. A.b. is reliable here, and our winters hover around 42F (5-6 C); this may give you a clue to overwintering them for good results. > Do the roots signal the bulb to initiate bloom? My own guess is that the bulbs respond to the cooling of the soil as the days start to shorten. From June 21 to now is 7-8 weeks (taking "now" as approximate), and the sun has gotten lower in the sky and the days significantly shorter. You might not think this would really affect soil temperatures, but walk barefooted on a beach here in mid- July and you'll scorch your tootsies. Do it in August, and there's just not the same heat in the sand. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island